Australia is beefing up its forces in East Timor with four Black Hawk
helicopters and 100 extra troops after an escalation of violence between
United Nations peacekeepers and pro-Jakarta militia groups.

The helicopters will give Australia's 1500-strong peacekeeping force
greater firepower and the ability to patrol the West Timorese border after
dark using the helicopters' advanced night vision equipment.

The decision to reinforce Australian forces follows the killing of a
New Zealand soldier by militia gunmen on the East Timor-West Timor border
earlier this week, although Defence Minister John Moore insisted the
decision to deploy the potent Black Hawks was made several weeks ago.

The original Australian-led InterFET force was assisted by 12 Black
Hawks that were withdrawn in February, and battalion commanders on the
ground in East Timor have been keen to get back their night vision
capability.

Defence Force chief Admiral Chris Barrie made a special tour of the
border area under Australian control three-and-a-half weeks ago at the
request of ground forces in East Timor and agreed to send in four of the
army's prized 36-strong helicopter fleet.

Without the Black Hawks' night vision, Australian forces have been
prevented from conducting night reconnaissance missions from the air and
assessing key militia group movements overnight. The Black Hawks will give
Australian troops the ability to strike back at night if fired upon by
militias.

Private Leonard Manning, 24, was shot dead on Monday as NZ troops
tracked militia fighters along East Timor's border with West Timor near
Suai. He is the first combat casualty since peacekeepers arrived in East
Timor in September.

Mr Moore said the extra troops and helicopters would join the
Australian troops already stationed in East Timor as part of the UN
transitional administration early next month.

Mr Moore said the government made the decision under UN sanction after
Admiral Barrie's visit to East Timor. "This decision is not a
reaction to what happened to Private Manning - it was a decision made by
the government some weeks ago," he said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the extra troops would give
Australian forces greater flexibility. There have been periodic exchanges
of gunfire between peacekeepers and militia groups since last year. In May
an Australian soldier suffered shrapnel wounds from a grenade thrown by a
militiaman near the border.

Mr Moore said Australia was satisfied with the UN command, but said
more had to be done to weaken the militia groups operating from refugee
camps.

Note: For those who would like to fax "the
powers that be" - CallCenter V3.5.8, is a Native 32-bit Voice Telephony software
application integrated with fax and data communications... and it's free of charge!
Download from http://www.v3inc.com/